Edson Buddle’s second stint with the LA Galaxy failed to live up to his first, and on Friday the underperforming striker was traded to the Colorado Rapids.

The deal between the two most recent MLS champions will boost the Galaxy’s bottom line while giving the Rapids the chance to rehabilitate a proven but inconsistent goal scorer. Colorado sent allocation money and a pick in next month’s supplemental draft back to LA in exchange.

“Edson is an explosive, dynamic forward who is among the top scorers in MLS history,” Rapids technical director Paul Bravo said. “He’s a strong presence up top, with both size and skill, and he has great experience in MLS, Germany, and the U.S. national team. We’re happy to welcome him to the Rapids.”

Buddle’s career has been one of feast or famine.

He spent his first five seasons with the Columbus crew, notching a high of 11 regular season goals in 2004, before brief spells with the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC. The New York native joined the Galaxy in ’07, scored 15 goals the following year and struggled through a difficult ’09 season before stunning the league with 19 in 2010. He parlayed that success into a spot on the World Cup team in South Africa.

Buddle subsequently failed to reach an agreement on a new contract and left for Germany, where he scored 10 goals for for second-division club FC Ingolstadt. When he returned to LA last winter it seemed to be an almost unfair case of the really rich getting even richer.

But his partnership with Robbie Keane never took flight this season and Buddle wound up missing more than two months with a knee injury. He returned to action in September but by that time, Landon Donovan had shifted forward from midfield and had found his groove with Keane. Buddle, 31, was an occasional starter as the Galaxy claimed their second straight title but failed to score in any of his five playoff appearances.

"In a perfect world. Edson would still be part of our team, but the reality of MLS is it's not a perfect world,” Galaxy coach Bruce Arena told reporters on Friday. “We have salary cap restrictions and other obligations we need to adhere to.”

Buddle made $225,000 this season.

The Rapids cut ties with all-time leading scorer Conor Casey at the end of the season and are desperate for a finisher (Omar Cummings was the team’s highest scoring striker with six). Buddle has hit double digits four times in his career and might very well be the focal point of Colorado’s attack in 2013.